


Recognizable

by jmfantasy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-01-04 01:51:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21189593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmfantasy/pseuds/jmfantasy
Summary: When Rose gets sorted into Slytherin, it wasn't everything she hoped it would be. Old prejudices rise to the surface and Rose must prove that your house does not define you.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- How To Get Noticed

Rose hated being compared to other members of her family, even from a young age. She just wanted to be her own person, but instead she had been stuck dealing with people's assumptions of who she was based on who her family was. Her mother and father expected her to be studious, like Hermione, and though Rose did love reading she could think of other things that she would rather do too, like playing quidditch with her cousins. Her Uncle George and Uncle Charlie would comment, when they thought she couldn't hear of course, that she would probably be a killjoy, who followed the rules to a stick, just like her mother, even though Rose pulled just as many pranks as James and Fred Jr, the difference being she never got caught. Even Uncle Harry, who was supposed to be opposed to judging a book by its cover, would make comments to his wife, Ginny, about Rose when she wasn't around.

"Poor girl," she once heard him say, "she might be smart but she'll never quite reach Hermione's brains, man, Hermione was scary smart though." The only person who didn't seem to compare her to anyone was Uncle Bill, and a few of her cousins. Lily had been closest to Rose growing up, second only to Albus and her brother Hugo. Rose just wanted the judgement to stop. For the first eleven years her life, she was judged by her family, on how they thought she should be, so when she got her Hogwarts letter, Rose decided that she would do everything she could to be different from the rest of her cousins, and the generation before them, to be her own person. So, when Ron told her on the platform not to be nice to Scorpius Malfoy, Rose had a brilliant idea. She would befriend Scorpius, and be sorted into Slytherin with him. She would be the first Weasley in Slytherin, and the first to overcome the prejudice towards the Malfoys and bridge the gap. But then, of course, just like in everything else, her cousin had to beat her to it. By the time Rose found Scorpius on the train, he was already sitting in a compartment and laughing with Albus, so instead Rose found another compartment with Lorcan Scamander. Lorcan and his twin brother Lysander had practically grown up with her, with their parents being invited over for every family event, including the weekly family dinner at the burrow. When she sat down, she said hello to Lorcan and pulled out the textbooks for this year, rereading them even though she knew them by heart. When they reached the school, Rose sat down in a boat by herself, watching as Albus jumped into one with Scorpius Malfoy, Lysander Scamander, and an Italian boy. She sighed and looked down, realizing that perhaps she was just like her mother, and she would be alone for her first few months at Hogwarts. She watched as everyone joined their friends in boats, Lorcan joining Alice Longbottom, Arianna Finnegan, and Luke Wood, and realized that she actually might make the boat ride alone as everyone else seemed to be in a boat already. Her heart sank until she watched one last straggler running along, who jumped into the boat with her. Rose smiled gently and extended her hand towards the dark-haired girl.

"Rose Weasley," she said, shaking the other girls hand,

"Theresa Zabini." The girls made small talk as the boat crossed the river and stuck together throughout the journey to the great hall. Rose watched as people were called up to the front.

"Brianna Applebee" The hat sat on the girls head for a few seconds before calling out, "Hufflepuff." The names seemed to fly by.

"Arianna Finnegan, Gryffindor"

"Alice Longbottom, Gryffindor" Rose looked up to see her Uncle Neville's face light up in a smile. Rose knew her Uncle Neville best of all her uncles, she spent a lot of time with him, and was happy to see him smile.

"Scorpius Malfoy," the whole hall went deadly quiet as Scorpius approached the stool. He placed it on his head, and it stayed there for 2 minutes and 34 seconds according to Rose's count, before calling out "Slytherin" A few more name passed, and the chatter began to pick up quietly, until it died down for

"Albus Potter" the hat remained on Al's head longer than anyone else so far, reaching 4 minutes and 46 seconds before calling out "Gryffindor." Rose watched the relief spread across her families' faces as Al made his way over to Gryffindor, looking somewhat disappointed.

"Lorcan Scamander, Hufflepuff"

"Lysander Scamander, Ravenclaw" A few names passed, and suddenly it was Rose's turn. She walked to the front and placed the hat on her had.

"Ah- another Weasley, I know just what to... wait a minute, there is something different about you. Ah yes, you are Miss Granger's daughter" Rose felt anger surge through her that even the hat was comparing her to her mother. She heard it chuckle in her head, and felt her face heat up remembering he could hear her. "You're going to be a tough one, just like she was, but for different reasons. You have a lot of your father in you too, he always wanted to prove that he was different than his brothers too, better even. You would fit most anywhere. You are obviously very brave, family trait it appears. I sense great things in your future, and being in Gryffindor with your family to support you could be very helpful."

"Anything but Gryffindor" Rose thought towards the hat, "Hmm, well Ravenclaw would be the choice everyone expected if you weren't in Gryffindor. There is no doing you are extremely intelligent, more so than your mother if I dare say so, despite what others may think," Rose felt heart soar hearing that the hat thought she outshined her mother in something, "You would match in with Hufflepuff, you are exceedingly loyal, and despite the front you put up and how much they irritate you at times, you love your family deeply, and would do just about anything for them. But despite all of that, you also possess Slytherin qualities. It's quite obvious you have a thirst to prove yourself, and you are obviously very cunning. You would make a fabulous addition to the family joke shop. I quite enjoyed the one where you turned your brother skin orange and his hair purple for a week, very powerful magic for an 8-year-old." Rose giggled, "I was inspired by the oompa-loompas" Rose the hats chuckle before he continued, "The only question left is where to put you," Rose's internal clock kicked in then and she realized that she had been sat on the stool for 9 minutes and 23 seconds. The hat continued its inner debate, and said "Well, if you want to stand out, I guess it better be" and here he switched to an out loud voice "Slytherin." The whole hall was deathly silent, and Rose proudly lifted her chin, removed the hat from her head, setting it back on the stool as she made her way over to the Slytherin table, taking a seat beside Scorpius. She looked up to the three other house tables and could see her cousins staring at her with open jaws, minus James and Fred Jr who were sending her glares. She felt a sharb stab of pain from this, put brushed it off and returned her focus to the sorting ceremony.

"Luke Wood, Gryffindor"

"Alex Zabini" Rose watched as the Italian boy who sat in the boat with Albus ascended towards the hat realizing he must be Theresa's brother, Zabini was not a common last name. "Gryffindor" the hat called out after a few seconds. She watched the shock spread across the boys face, and he slowly removed, walking to the Gryffindor table, and plopping down beside Al.

"Theresa Zabini, Slytherin" Theresa smiled, and sat down beside Rose.

"What a night" she said, smiling kindly at Rose, and Scorpius, both nodding in return. Rose turned her attention to Scorpius and stuck out her had,

"I'm Rose by the way" Scorpius looked her and began to laugh, "What?" Rose inquired, beginning to feel self-conscious.

"As if anyone doesn't know who you are, you're a Weasley," Rose glared at him and repled,

"No, I'm Rose, not Rose Weasley, just Rose. And you are Scorpius, just Scorpius, not a Malfoy."

"Oh?" he responded, raising an eyebrow, "So what you are saying is, you don't hate me because your family hates my family,"

"Nope," Rose replied, popping the 'p', "And you don't hate me because your family hates mine either. We are just Rose and Scorpius, and we can make our own opinions about each other." Scropius grinned and finally shook her outstretched hand,

"I'd like that Rose, I'd like that a lot." After that, Scorpius, Theresa, Rose and Jacob Nott spent the rest of the evening laughing, and getting to know each other at the welcome feast, all ignoring each other's surnames, and for that moment, Rose finally felt like she belonged somewhere because she was her, not because her mother was Hermione Granger and her father was Ronald Weasley, but because she was Rose. But like most times in Rose's life, her happiness was to be short lived.


	2. Welcome to Class

“What the hell Rose?” Rose turned to find herself facing her entire family, well, the ones who were at Hogwarts anyways.

“What?” she huffed irritably,

“Slytherin? Really” James snarled at her,

“Yes James, Slytherin, what’s so bad about that?” she rolls her eyes at her cousin’s antics, even though she had been anticipating them.

“They’re all evil!” Fred II yelled at her,

“No they aren’t” Rose huffed “you all need to get over your prejudice and accept the fact that times have changed. Just because our parents hated the Slytherins doesn’t mean we have to.”

“Rose!” Victoire said in shock, “How can you say that? They are the children of death eaters, people who tried to kill your parents!”

“Yes, and people being prejudiced against others without really knowing them is the reason there were death eaters in the first place. My parents, our parents, fought a war so that people wouldn’t have to live in a world of discrimination, so why in Merlin’s name would I judge my fellow classmates on who their parents are?” My cousins all looked at me flabbergasted and I turned on my heel, making my way to the Great Hall. My eyes roamed until a saw a familiar head of platinum blond hair.

“Morning Scorpius” I called in a sing-song voice, as he looked up at me with an amused expression.

“Someone got a good night’s rest,” I laughed and bumped him with my shoulder as I sat down beside him,

“Aren’t you excited? We start classes today!” Scorpius raised a delicate blonde eyebrow at her, and let a grin spread across his face,

“Yeah, I guess I am.” He looked at me speculatively for a moment, “Wanna be partners?” he asked, not meeting my gaze,

“Of course!” I grinned at him, and his head shot up in surprise as a genuine smile found its way onto his face.

“Phew, one less thing to worry about, thank you for your kindness milady” he responded dramatically, lifting my fingers to his lips and kissing them before throwing a wink my way. We both burst out laughing, clutching our stomachs at his antics.

“Is there a reason you two are practically falling out of your seats?” Theresa’s voice floated over to them, and they stopped laughing to look at each other to try and formulate a response, but the moment they looked over and saw Theresa and Jacob’s incredulous faces they burst into a new fit of laughter, this time landing on the floor.

“Is there a problem here?” McGonagall looked down at them, and Rose could see disappointment in her expression.

“Perfectly fine Professor,” Scorpius replied, composing himself quickly. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow at me as I stood and rearranged myself in my seat,

“I didn’t expect you to be creating a ruckus Miss Weasley,” she looked down at me over her glasses, and felt indignation rise in my chest,

“Why are you only telling me that?” I responded before I could stop myself, “Did you expect a ruckus from a Malfoy? Or is it just because I’m Hermione freakin’ Granger’s daughter you expected me to be rule-abiding. But, that wouldn’t make sense now would it? Heaven forbid a child be different than her parents” I couldn’t stop the flow of words, the words putting a foot in my mouth. I had bottled it up for too long for me to be able to stop now. “Were you the same as your parents Professor? Was your life goal to be-“ I felt a hand go over my mouth, and out of the corner of my eye and saw it was Scorpius preventing me from continuing. My gaze focused on McGonagall and realized she seemed to be in shock, her mouth hanging open. It didn’t take long for her to recover, and I knew I had gone too far, seeing the look on her face.

“Detention Miss Weasley, with me, every night this week at 7:00 sharp, after dinner. You have no right to speak to me that way, no matter who your parents are.” Her tone had a bite to it, and I felt my eyes begin to bug out, and a strange sort of elation run through me.

“She didn’t give me special treatment and let me off the hook because of my parents,” I exclaimed, turning to Scorpius with a grin on my face.

“Is that really a good thing? I mean, you have detention for a week now.”

“Rose... it’s inevitable that people are going to treat you differently because of who you are, but you can’t blow up at everyone who does,” Theresa said softly.

“Yeah, at least you got the bright side of things. Sure you get treated differently, but at least it’s in a positive manner. Us children of death eaters? Not so much,” Jacob added. My brow furrowed in thought,

“I suppose. But it doesn’t mean it’s right. I’m not my mother, anymore than any of you are your parents, why can’t people see that?”

“Sometimes, people see what they want to see, be it good or bad.” Scorpius’s voice was so quiet, I only heard him because I was beside him. I looked at each of them in turn, but before I could respond, we all found our schedules in front of us.

“Ew, we have transfiguration first.”

“Isn’t that with your mom Theresa?” Rose asked,

“Exactly! That’s why it’s gross!” she scrunched her nose up and sighed dramatically. Rose laughed with the others.

“Hey, at least it isn’t your dad,” Scorp joked,

“Yeah, Uncle Blaise would be too busy watching all the boys to make sure there was no funny business that he wouldn’t be teaching. At least Aunt Daphne will only chastise you for doing something stupid.” Theresa stuck her tongue out at Jacob, as Alex sat down beside his sister.

“Why are we talking about mom?”

“Theresa was just telling us how excited she was to have first period transfiguration with your mother,” Scorpius said with a grin,

“Ugh I forgot about that” Alex replied, placing his head in his hand. “How bad can it be though right?” Theresa shrugged

“Depends how much you piss her off.”

“Me!? What about you? You cause just as much mischief as me!”

“Yeah, but the difference is, I don’t get caught.” Theresa grinned triumphantly and grabbed her bag. “Come on Rose, walk to class with me” Rose stood and followed Theresa out of the Great Hall. They passed James, and Rose didn’t miss the glare he sent her way. Rose picked up her pass, with Theresa having to jog to keep up.

“Hey! What’s the rush Rose? I know it’s first day and all but it’s really not that exciting.” Rose didn’t respond, she just kept walking, not stopping until she was in front of the classroom. To her surprise, they weren’t the first ones there, even though class didn’t start for another fifteen minutes.

“Hey Rose,” Al said quietly, looking at his cousin. He looked at her like he had never seen her before, and Rose felt hurt. He was supposed to be her closest cousin, and best friend.

“Albus” she replied cooly.

“I just wanted to let you know that I don’t agree with what the others are saying. You’re still my best friend whether you’re in Slytherin or not. I don’t think it makes you evil or anything stupid like that.” Al met her gaze, and she saw the same offer of friendship in his eyes that was always there, but she knew him well enough to read the hesitation in his stance.

“Oh Al,” she said, throwing herself into his arms, and giving him a bear hug. She felt him relax and hug her back tightly. When she pulled back he was grinning,

“Thanks Al, it means a lot,”

“Ahem,” Theresa cleared her throat, and Rose turned, having forgotten she was there.

“Oh! Albus this is Theresa Zabini, Theresa this is Al Potter.”

“Pleasure,” she said, smiling fondly at him and extending her hand. Al reached out and shook it,

“Nice to meet you.” Al returned his attention to Rose, “They won’t hold it against you forever. They were just surprised is all. They won’t shut you out forever, it’s just that no one expected this and they are having trouble coping.”

“Why though Al? I don’t want to hear you make excuses for them. There is no excuse. Being sorted into Slytherin doesn’t change the person I was before I came to Hogwarts, it doesn’t change who I am now, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean I’m not their family. There is no excuse for them to corner me in the hallway and make accusations against my friends so don’t bother because I don’t want to hear it. You didn’t, so no I’m not mad at you, but don’t try and convince me that what they did is okay because it’s not, okay?” Al’s eyes widened in shock, but he nodded his agreement,

“Okay. Hey Rose, I was wondering, do you want to be my partner?” Rose squirmed under his gaze,

“I-uh I already have a partner”

“Me” Rose jumped hearing Scorpius’ voice behind her.

“Oh.” Al looked at the two of them, “Well, it’s grouped in three, can I join you?” Rose ad Scorpius exchanged a look and Rose saw Scorpius nod his head before turning back to Albus with a grin,

“Of course!” The classroom door opened and they all filed into the classroom. The rest of the day was a blur of classes to Rose. Whenever Gryffindor shared a class with them Rose, Scorpius, and Al sat together, with any other house, Theresa joined them at their table. Before Rose knew it, she’d already been through her first day at Hogwarts, and despite the issues with her family, Rose thought it was perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose knocked on Professor McGonagall’s door promptly at 7:00pm.

“Enter” she heard from the other side of the door. When she walked into the room she saw a desk set-up in front of the Professor’s desk. Rose went to sit at the desk but stopped when McGonagall raised her hand.

“Sit with me for a minute first” McGonagall indicated the comfortable chair in front of her desk, and Rose sat as requested, squirming uncomfortably.

“What was that all about this morning Miss Weasley?” Rose refused to meet the Professor’s eyes. She didn’t know how, and didn’t want, to tell the Professor about how she wished she didn’t have to feel like everyone was comparing her to her family, didn’t want to admit to feeling like a disappointment hearing her family talk about her. She didn’t want to talk about how she got so angry about the expectations placed on her by everyone to be perfect, she didn’t want to tell McGonagall about how she wanted to be Rose, how she wanted a chance to find out who she was without people already thinking they knew who she was because of her family name, so instead she said,

“Nothing, the stress of first day, I guess.” McGonagall looked at Rose over the rim of her glasses, and Rose had the peculiar feeling that the Professor could see right through her.

“I just want you to know Miss Weasley, that even if you aren’t in my old house, you can always talk to me if you need anything. I know I’m the headmistress, and you’d be worried about bothering me, and all that rubbish, but it’s truly not a bother, if you want to talk,” she looked at her for a minute, as if waiting for Rose to open up to her. When she didn’t, the Professor redirected her to the desk where she was instructed to write lines. After the 35th time of writing _I shall not yell at my Professor’s in the Great Hall_, Rose startled from her task as the fireplace lit up green, and out walked her parents.

“Ron, Hermione” McGonagall sounded surprised, “What are you doing here?” Rose’s parents looked at her, and she saw the disappointment in her mother’s eyes, and the anger in her father’s, and she knew why they were here,

“They’re here to reprimand me Professor, on being sorted into Slytherin.” McGonagall looked at Rose surprised, and her mother looked away guilty.

“Damn right we are. What the hell Rose, Slytherin? As if not being in Gryffindor wouldn’t be bad enough, you had to get sorted into Slytherin of all places with the damn snakes. And on top of all that, your cousin tells me your cozying up to Scorpius bloody Malfoy”  
  
“Mr Weasley, there is no need for that language here-” McGonagall started before she was cut off,

“How dare you Dad! You and mom are constantly going on in public about how we all need to move past the war and let bygones be bygones, put prejudice in the past, and yet here you are, reprimanding me for being in Slytherin.”  
  
“Rosie, sweetheart, it isn’t so much that you are in Slytherin, it’s how Slytherin is affecting you that’s worrying us.” Hermione was ever the peace keeper, Rose thought bitterly

“How- how Slytherin is affecting me?” Rose heard her voice rise in anger, “You mean how happy I am, to finally have friends who don’t want to be friends with me because you are my parents?”

“That’s a load of crap and you know it Rose. You have plenty of friends, not because of us. But no, we are referring to the bad influence it’s had on you, detention on your first day of school? That’s not you!” Hermione’s face was turning red with anger.

“No mom, that’s not you! And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m NOT YOU! Besides, you’re just mad about me being in Slytherin because it doesn’t match with the perfect little life you’ve planned for me. You’re worried about what people are going to say about you now that you have a Slytherin daughter, because heaven forbid you think about how I’m feeling being cast out by my family, oh no, it’s all about your social ima-” Rose was cut off by her mother’s hand across her face. She raised her hand to her quickly reddening cheek, and tears filled her eyes as she looked at her mother in betrayal. Hermione looked horrified,

“Oh Rosie, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,”

“But you shouldn’t have spoken to us like that,” her father piped in, Rose turned and fled from the room, hearing McGonagall reprimanding them,

“How dare you come into my office and hit your child?” McGonagall continued even after she heard her office door slam behind her, “This is my office, and my school, you had no right to do that. And she’s right, there is no reason why she shouldn’t be in Slytherin. She is in detention with me tonight because when I asked her why she was on the floor of the Great Hall, which I might add, was caused by Mr Malfoy making her laugh, she blew up at me about my high expectations for her because she is your daughter. I don’t think you realize how hard of a time she’s having with all of this. Her cousins, except for young Albus of course, aren’t talking to her, and here you come in ostracizing her for her Hogwarts house of all things. I think it’s time you leave. When you’ve calmed down, and are ready to apologize to your daughter, you may re-enter my school. Until then, you are not welcome here.” Hermione had hot tears running down her face, already regretting what she had down, but Ron still felt anger coursing through him. Seeing this, Hermione grabbed his arm, and pulled him back through the fire and home. Minerva let out the breath she was holding and sunk back into her chair. _Well, whoever said there was such a thing as a dull year at Hogwarts, obviously has never met a member of the Weasley clan_.

Rose ran out of the office, and went straight to Uncle Neville’s office, banging on the door. No one answered the door, and Rose felt her mind go into overdrive, imagining the worst, until,

“Rose?” she turned and saw Neville walking down the corridor, “What’s up?” Neville looked at his favourite niece, and stopped when he saw the tear tracks cascading down her face, “What’s wrong Rosie?”

“Y-you don’t hate me, right Uncle Nev?” Rose stuttered. Neville walked forward and pulled her into a tight hug,

“Of course not Rosie Posie, how could I hate you?”

“B-because I’m a s-slytherin, a-and everyone else does” Neville pulled back from Rose, and crouched down to her level.

“Rosie, your house doesn’t define you. You are still the Rose that I loved yesterday, you just wear more green now.” Rose let out a watery laugh, and Neville led her inside to his sitting area. Rose collapsed on the sofa, pulling her knees to her chest.

“Do you wanna know the worst part, Uncle Neville?” Neville sat beside her and pulled her into his embrace, sensing her need for comfort.

“What’s the worst part Rosie?”

“I wanted to be different than the rest of them, I wanted to be in Slytherin. I wanted to make a clear distinction between myself and my parents, so people would stop comparing me to them. So really, this whole thing is my fault.” Neville looked down at his niece in shock,

“Rosie, none of this is your fault. Your family shouldn’t be ignoring you for the house you were sorted into. But Rose, I have to ask, why wouldn’t you want to be associated with your family?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love them, I really do, but I just feel so caged in, all the time. Everyone expects me to be perfect like mom, or funny like dad, and when I’m not I just, I see the disappointment in their eyes. I hear what they all say about me at the family gatherings too. I hear Uncle George talk about how I’m probably going to be no fun, like mom. I’ve heard Uncle Harry talk about my brain, but how I’ll never be as smart as mom. I just wanted something to set me apart. I wanted something that was just me, no comparisons. I was tired of failing people’s expectation as Rose Weasley, I just wanted to be Rose. I want to be me, not the daughter of two-thirds of the golden trio, just Rose.” Rose sniffled, and Neville stroked her hair, not quite sure how to respond. When he finally came up with a response he looked down at Rose, and realized she’d fallen asleep. Neville lay her on the couch and covered her with a blanket. He then proceeded to walk over to the fireplace and grab his pot of floo powder. Neville knew that on Tuesdays, like today, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all had dinner at Grimmauld Place. Neville stepped into the fire, called out “Grimmauld Place,” and went spinning off through the green flames.


	4. Chapter 4

“Neville!” Neville felt himself pulled into a hug by Ginny.

“Hello everyone,” he said nodding stiffly, as he looked at the other three occupants in the room. His gaze focused on Hermione, who’s eyes were equally as puffy as Rose’s had been, “Would someone care to explain to me why I just had Rose crying in my office until she fell asleep on my couch?” Neville could hear the anger in his voice, and noticed that Hermione refused to meet his gaze.

“I don’t think our family issues are any of your concern Neville” Ron spoke coolly,

“Ron!” Ginny and Hermione scolded at the same time,

“When your daughter is in my room, crying her heart out because her family has ostracized her, I’m making it my business.” Neville’s tone was firm, and he saw Ginny look at him in confusion,

“Ostracizing her? Who’s ostracizing her, why?”

“Did James not send you the letter too Ginny?” Ron spoke with mock joy, “Our daughter has been sorted into Slytherin, and become fast friends with Scorpius Malfoy”

“Are you kidding me? Who cares?” Ginny raised an incredulous eye at her brother, and looked at her husband, “Can you believe them?”

“No, Gin, I told Albus if that’s where he ended up I wouldn’t care, and I meant it.”

“But you- you’re part of the whole problem” Neville said angrily, turning on Harry, who looked surprised,

“Me? What have I done”

“Talking about her, as if she can’t hear you. And don’t say you haven’t, because I’ve heard too. I’ve ignored it, hoping she wouldn’t hear you, but honestly the only one of you four who hasn’t upset her, that I know of, is Ginny.”

“Harry Potter, what did you say?” Ginny’s face had gone red in her anger. Harry scratched at his head, and Neville watched as the dawn of recognition appeared in his eyes.

“Oh,” he said quietly. Ginny raised an expectant eyebrow at him, “I may have mentioned that she was bloody brilliant, but... well, not as brilliant as her mother...Ouch!” Harry yelped as Ginny whacked him upside the head with her ladle.

“Harry Potter, you know sometimes you are the sweetest man in the world, but sometimes you just don’t think.” Ginny shook her head, and then turned to Ron and Hermione, “and, what about you two, what have you done?” Hermione and Ron exchanged a look with each other, and Hermione looked away and down at the floor. “Well?”

“It’s none of your bloody business Ginny, so butt out, and stop being so nosy.” Ron glared at his sister, but Hermione placed a hand on his arm, and quietly told Ginny what had happened. By the end of her story, Harry, Ginny, and Neville were all looking at the couple open-mouthed. Neville was the first to break the silence,

“You hit her!? How could you do that!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Hermione spoke through her tears, “It was in the moment, and I was so angry at how she was talking to us, I apologized about it immediately, and I haven’t stopped feeling guilty about it since it happened!”

“Why would you tell her off for the house she’s in, my god Hermione, I thought you were smarter than that!” Ginny looked truly upset with her friend,

“I’m not even upset with the fact that she’s in Slytherin, I think I was more worried about the prejudice she would face from other people from being in Slytherin house and my worry just showed itself poorly, very poorly.”

“What are you talking about Hermione! I don’t want our daughter around those evil gits!”

“Oh grow up Ron! Rose will be fine, and those gits as you call them are children, give them the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty, right?” Ron huffed, and angrily got up.

“I came here for a nice dinner not to have my opinions criticized.” Ron grabbed a pinch of floo powder and disappeared.

“Neville?” Neville turned and looked at her, “Please tell Rose I’m sorry, I don’t think she’ll want to see me right now” Neville looked at Hermione and saw the remorse in her eyes, and nodded his acquiescence to her request. Hermione stood and followed Ron back home.

“Neville,” Ginny was speaking this time, “Make sure she knows she’s always welcome in our house, and that Harry is an idiot and didn’t mean what he said. I’m glad she was able to go to you, that she could trust you. She obviously didn’t feel comfortable coming to us,” Ginny’s eyes filled with tears and Harry wrapped his arm around her waist,

“That’s because of me, not you Gin.” Harry looked up at Neville, “take care of her for us, will you?”

“Of course I’ll look after her, but I didn’t need you to ask me for me to do it.” Neville turned and stepped back into the fire, satisfied that for the most part he had been successful in getting his point across.

* * *

When Rose stirred from her sleep it was from fists banging on the door. She looked around and saw that there was no one in the room, and realized Neville must have gone somewhere.

“Dad!” Rose felt her heart clench in fear hearing Alice’s voice outside the door. She hadn’t spoken to Alice since her sorting and she didn’t know if they were still friends or not. “Dad, are you in there?” Rose argued with herself about whether or not she should open the door and allow Alice in, or pretend there was no one in Neville’s office. Before she could decide, Rose heard Alice’s footsteps shuffling away. Rose sighed sadly, and grabbed her wand from the couch before leaving Neville’s office herself.

“Rose! Wait up!” Rose turned and saw Scorpius walking towards her, and instead of waiting turned and continued walking, she didn’t want him to see her as she was. Red eyes, puffy face. When she heard his pace pick up to try and catch up to her, she took off running and didn’t stop until she was safely in her room in the Slytherin girls dorm.

“Oh look, poor Weasley crying. What’s wrong in perfect baby’s life? Did someone else want to kiss up to you because of your saviour parents” Rose tried to ignore the drawling voice of Beatrice Goyle,

“Good one,” snorted her accomplice Veronica Pullinger. Rose had yet to have an experience with Beatrice, Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle’s daughter, or Veronica, daughter of Millicent Bulstrode and a foreign American wizard, but she was willing to bet they didn’t particularly like her.

“Oh piss off troll,” Theresa’s voice made Rose’s spirits soar, as she realized she wouldn’t have to deal with them. “Go pluck your eyebrow or something useful.”

“Hrmph” Goyle and Pullinger walked out and Rose felt a weight drop onto her bed.

“What’s going on Rose? Scorpius said he saw you in the hall and you ran from him. You wanna talk about it?”

“Don’t worry about it” Rose grumbled into her pillow,

“I am going to worry about it because you’re my friend, and that’s what friends are for.” Rose rolled on to her side, facing away from Theresa, and curled up into a ball, but refused to say anything. “Come on Rose, you can’t bottle things up forever.” Rose merely shook her head, and Theresa sighed, lying down on the bed beside her. “Alright Rose, you don’t have to tell me that’s your choice. But I’m not leaving you alone while you’re upset.” Theresa settled in beside her, and Rose felt a surge of affection for her friend,

“Thank you,” she whispered quietly before she closed her eyes, and fell asleep. Theresa looked at her friend, and felt sadness for Rose. She’d seen the altercation with her family this morning and looking at the red handprint on Rose’s face, assumed she had another family reunion that was making her so upset. Theresa pulled the blankets up over Rose, and went down to tell Scorpius about what she had seen this morning, because Rose would need all the support she could get.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose woke the next morning, feeling like she hadn’t slept at all. She rolled out of bed and looked around her room, seeing that her three roommates were still asleep. Rose walked to the showers and as the water fell down her body, she allowed her tears to join it. She told herself it wasn’t her fault, trying to convince herself that what Uncle Neville had told her was true, but found it was easier to say than it was to believe. When she finished her shower, she arranged her hair in a plait down her back, hoping that would keep it tame, and put her robes on. When she walked out of the bathroom she saw that Theresa was waking up, but the other two were still sound asleep.

“Good morning” Theresa greeted, seeing Rose standing in the doorway.

“Morning. I’ll see you at breakfast?” Rose asked,

“Wait for me, we’ll go together. I’ll be twenty minutes, tops.” Rose smiled and nodded, not wanting to risk another run-in with her family by herself. When Theresa walked out of the bathroom, both girls grabbed their bags and headed down the stairs.

“Morning Rose, ‘Rea” Scorpius greeted cheerfully. Theresa nodded in greeting,

“Morning Scorp, Jacob” Rose replied. Jacob merely grunted in reply, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. Theresa and Scorpius exchanged a glance, and jumped at him at the same time, screaming “boo!” Jacob jumped and screamed, flailing his arms at the two who jumped out of the way and proceeded to double over in laughter.

“Why must you insist on doing that every time we see each other in the morning?” Jacob grumbled. Rose grinned, but inside she was feeling out of place as she realized that her three new friends had known each other since they were young kids.

“Come on, let’s go get some breakfast,” Rose turned and led the way out of the common room. The other three exchanged worried looks, but quickly caught up to her.

“So Rose, are we not friends anymore or something?” Scorpius elbowed her gently in the side, and Rose looked at him with furrowed brows, “Well, you ran away from me last night what else am I supposed to think,” Scorpius spoke with a teasing smile, but Rose could see the concern in his eyes.

“Of course we’re friends, you dolt, it was just a rough day okay?” Rose couldn’t quite meet Scorpius eyes, but sighed in relief as his arm wrapped around her shoulder,

“If you say so. You wanna talk about it?” Rose shook her head softly, and leaned into Scorpius’ side, and squeezed Theresa’s hand when she felt it slip into her own. For the first time since being sorted into Slytherin, Rose truly felt like maybe she belonged there, with her new friends. The calm serenity was broken when her stomach let out a loud grumble. Jacob and Scorpius laughed, linking their arms through hers.

“Let’s go feed her before she decides to eat us” Jacob said, looking at Scorpius in mock horror. They walked out of the common room and up to the great hall. Part way through breakfast the mail came, and an owl dropped two letters in front of her. Surprise filled her face, she thought it was taboo to talk to her now. Rose recognized the handwriting on both letters and decided to read the one from her brother first

_Ro,_

_I heard about the sorting and I just wanted you to know that I don’t agree with James. I still love you and you’re still my sister no matter what house you’re in. But what happened with mom and dad? They aren’t talking right now. Dad went out last night, slamming doors behind him and he hasn’t come back yet. Mom came home and sat on the couch and cried until she fell asleep. I know they went to see you yesterday, and mom and dad came home early from Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny’s yesterday. Teddy and I were having fun too. But, mom sent him home once she got here. I was talking to Teddy and he doesn’t care either. He said his grandma was a Slytherin and there is nothing wrong with her, so why should there be anything wrong with you? He wanted me to let you know. Said he got a letter from Victoire upset about it, but he thinks she’ll come around. She was upset because not everyone wanted to, well I think the word he used was ostracize, but not everyone wanted to ostracize you so she was upset. You know how Aunt Fleur can be, that’s where Victoire gets her resentment from. But you know Uncle Bill loves you no matter what, and apparently Dom and Louis agree with him. It seems like it’s half and half. But don’t worry about them Rose they’ll come around, I know they will._

_Love your brother,_

_Hugo_

Rose sighed and put the letter down, trying to figure out how to tell her brother that the reason their parents were so bad was all because of her, she didn’t know whether that would be the breaking point for him. She set the letter aside and decided to deal with it later, and grabbed the letter from her Uncle Bill.

_Hey Rosie,_

_Albus sent me a letter and told me how the family is taking your sorting, asked me to send you a letter because he knew I wouldn’t care. I’m sorry for my children’s behaviour Rose, and you can be sure I’m going to be having words with them about it. As for your cousins, I’m sure the curse breaker in me can scare some sense into them when they come home for Christmas. I also wanted to tell you I don’t care where you were sorted you’re still my Rose, the little girl who sat and listened to all my stories, while my own children wandered off to play. The girl whose scraped knees I helped patch up when she banged them on a rock trying to freshen up Dobby’s grave. The girl who managed to magic streamers out of a cake on her brother’s birthday that covered everyone in cake, and blame her cousins (yes I know it was you little mastermind). I know you’re still the same kind, intelligent, cunning niece you were before going to Hogwarts, and no hat is going to change that. That said, I also beg you not let the family’s actions and prejudice change you into someone you’re not. I know how stubborn and pigheaded my brother can be, and I want you to know that if you ever need a place to go, you are always welcome at my home. Let me know if you need anything okay flower?_

_Love,_

_Uncle Bill_

Rose felt her eyes fill with tears at the affirmation from her Uncle and brother that she wasn’t a traitor to her family, that she still had family members who loved her. Rose decided to respond after breakfast, and looked up meeting Theresa’s eyes. She realized all of her friends were looking at her with concern, and quickly wiped away the tears that had leaked down her cheeks.

“You okay?” Scorp asked quietly, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Yeah, my brother and my uncle both just sent me letter to tell me they don’t care where I was sorted,” Rose’s face lit with a radiant grin.

“Oh thank god, I thought we were going to have to go fight some Weasley’s at 8 in the bloody morning” Jacob winked at her, and Rose laughed with the rest of her friends.

“Don’t let them hear you joke about that” Albus said, smirking at her as he and Alex sat at the table with them, “they might take it seriously and you’ll instigate a fight you can’t finish”

“Do you doubt me Potter?” Jacob rose a single eyebrow in a calculated manner, “I think I could take you,” he smirked back at Albus,

“Yeah, maybe you could take me, however there are a lot more Weasley’s at this school so when it is four of you against all of them I don’t like your odds” Albus rolled his eyes, which flashed with mirth.

“Touche Potter, touché” Jacob smiled,

“I’d prefer Al actually, if you don’t mind. Not Albus and not Potter, Al is fine” Al offered his hand, and Jacob looked at the proffered hand hesitantly before accepting it, and shaking.

“Jacob”

“Oh come on, you know you prefer Jakey-Wakey” Alex said from the other side, smirking at him,

“I swear Zabini, I will kill you if you call me that one more time, I’m not a kid anymore”

“He’s right Alex, we shouldn’t call him that” Scorp responded from across the table. Jacob looked at him with mistrust, as he saw the smile fighting it’s way onto his best friend’s face

“Thanks Scorp...”

“We all know he prefers Jakey-Poo, that’s what mommy dearest called him in her latest letter,” Scorp held said letter and waved it in front of his face,

“Where’d you get that!” Jacob yelped, snatching it from Scorpius’ hand. Scorp, Alex, and Theresa all looked at each other and burst out laughing at Jacob’s expense.

“I nicked it from your trunk where else?” Jacob had turned bright pink, Rose started to laugh with the others until she caught the mischievous glint in Al’s eyes.

“Don’t worry Jacob, you aren’t the only one with embarrassing nicknames, in fact, everyone back home used to call Rose-” Rose’s eyes widened and she flew across the table hand over Albus’ mouth.

“Don’t you dare” she yelped. She felt arms around her waist and saw from the corner of her eye Jacob pulling her off Al.

“Well,” he smirked at her, “We used to call her Rowboat” Rose’s face flushed but the purebloods didn’t seem to get it.

“Rowboat?” Scorpius asked. Rose sighed and resigned herself to explaining.

“When Hugo was born, he couldn’t pronounce Rose, all he could get out was Ro. From there my lovely cousin,” here she glared at Al, “started singing row, row, row your boat whenever I was around. My cousins decided to call me rowboat after that.” Rose looked up at her friends, and watched as the serious facades they were trying to maintain broke and they all began laughing at her. Rose rolled her eyes, and smiled, knowing it wasn’t a malicious laugh, revelling in how good it felt to be able to laugh at memories about her family, afraid despite the letters, that she wouldn’t have many more laughing memories with her family.


	6. Chapter 6

The following weeks seemed to pass in a blur for Rose. Some of her family had started talking to her. Dominque, who had been sorted into Ravenclaw sympathized with Rose, she had faced shock after being the first Weasley to not be in Gryffindor, but nowhere near to the extent she had, Dom had told her. Dom said that the family had been okay with her not being in Gryffindor albeit surprised, but she knew how it felt to not share a house with their family. Louis also followed in Dominque’s footsteps both by being in Ravenclaw and by accepting Rose’s house without a word. Rose soon realized that the only people who she had to see at school who wouldn’t approve of the house she was in was James, Fred, Victoire, Molly and Alice Longbottom, although Alice always made sure she was discrete enough that Neville never caught her.

She quickly realized that despite how hard she worked to set herself apart from her mother that there were only a few teachers who didn’t expect her to be brilliant; Professor McGonagall; her transfiguration Professor, Professor Zabini; and her History of Magic Professor, Professor Binns, although he didn’t expect anyone to be brilliant. Neville expected her to be brilliant, but she knew after several conversations with him that it was because he knew that she was intelligent, not because her mother was exceedingly bright. Rose knew that without the support she received from her cousins, Uncle Neville, her friends, Hugo, and Uncle Bill, she probably would’ve given up from all the insults thrown her way by people who felt she had betrayed her family by being in Slytherin.

Rose had still not heard anything from her father. Her mother had sent her a few letters trying to apologize but Rose had not responded to any of them. Hugo had sent her a few letters saying that things between her parents were tense, and whenever she wrote him, she conveniently left out how she felt like it was all her fault. Her grandmother had not written her either, which hurt, because Rose knew that she had written Albus. She had even sent him sweets. Rose had decided that she would prove all of them wrong. She would show that she was better than them. Rose was top of her class, scoring higher than her mother ever had on all of her tests. She diligently ignored people in the halls, not letting them see how their words affected her, trying to be the bigger person. Throughout the whole experience the odd group of two Gryffindors and four Slytherins quickly became a group that was not seen apart, even at meals. Albus and Alex would join them at the Slytherin table, spouting about house unity and family, but Rose saw the looks that were sent their way, knew that many of the students did not approve. Before Rose knew it, Christmas was two weeks away and she found herself walking to the headmistress’ office. Professor McGonagall had seen how she had been struggling, despite how hard she tried to hide it and had insisted on meeting with Rose every other week for tea.

“Enter” she heard as she raised her fist to knock. She shook her head smiling, wondering how the Professor always knew.

“Good evening Professor,”

“Good evening Rose,” she smiled at her and waved her hand at the seat in front of her desk.

“How are preparations going for your mid-year assessments?”

“Well, I just hope it carries through.”

“It will,” the Professor smiled knowingly at her, “I believe you can do it” Rose’s heart soared. It was always nice to know that someone believed in her. After the week of detention she served with her, Rose and Professor McGonagall had become close, she was Rose’s favourite Professor, other than Uncle Neville, but she didn’t really count him.

“Professor, can I stay here for the holiday?” Rose blurted out, she always found herself saying things to Professor McGonagall before she could fully think it through. Yes, she wanted to stay here, but she had planned to work her way up to the question. She knew the professor would question her anyways if she just wrote her name on the list.

“Why would you want to stay here, don’t you want to see the rest of your family?” Minerva looked at her student sadly, although Rose refused to meet her eyes.

“Well, you see Professor, it’s just... well I haven’t talked to either of my parents since... that night, and I don’t know if I’m ready to see them yet. Especially my dad, I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet,” Rose looked up at the Professor, a single tear spilling down from her eye, “I don’t know if he ever will,” she whispered, more to herself, but Minerva still heard. Minerva’s heart broke for the poor girl.

“I’m sure that’s not true, if you just wrote them back-”

“What do you mean write them back. My dad hasn’t sent me a single letter. My mom has sent me two, one a week after that night and the other a week after that, she hasn’t tried to make contact since. Besides her last letter just said ‘sorry, see you when you come home’ the only person I’ve really talked to in the house is Hugo.”

“What about one of your aunts or uncles, could you stay with them? It’s just, I know you want to see Hugo, I don’t want you to not do that because of your parents.” Rose thought about it carefully, and then slowly shook her head.

“Uncle Bill would let me stay, but Aunt Fleur and Victoire would have a fit. I don’t think Fleur ever liked me, I wasn’t pretty enough for her. Uncle Charlie thinks I’m boring he wouldn’t want me. Aunt Audrey probably wouldn’t care, I don’t know, she’s nice and all but she doesn’t really seem to care about talking to us kids. She still talks to me like I’m 5. Uncle Percy still hates anything associated with Death Eaters after watching Uncle Fred die, not to mention Molly would have a cow. I think Uncle George only tolerates me because I’m his niece... but now... well, I don’t know, but either way Fred would be there. And I could stay with Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry, but not only is James there, but my family is frequently at their house.”

“What about your grandparents, Neville, Luna, or Teddy?” Rose’s eyes held a sad, far-off look.

“I don’t think my grandparents want anything to do with-” Rose’s voice cracked but she took a deep breath and tried again. “I don’t think they want anything to do with me. I haven’t heard from them since the sorting, which I might not think anything of, except for the fact that Grandma Molly sends Albus sweets and letters. Staying with Uncle Nev might be fine, Alice wouldn’t do anything to me where her father could see, but that wouldn’t be fair to her. She deserves to enjoy her Christmas. It is supposed to be a time of merriness and cheer, so I won’t go there. Besides anyone who is a friend of my parent’s would probably have my parent’s over frequently. Teddy splits his time between my parent’s house, Uncle Harry’s house, and his grandmother’s. But he is also seeing Victoire, and I won’t put a rift in their relationship. If I were to stay with him and she were to find out... well it wouldn’t be good. No, I’ve got nowhere to go Professor. Please let me stay here.” Minerva looked at the hunched over girl sitting in front of her and conceded to her request.

“Of course, Hogwarts is always home to those who need it. You are always welcome to stay.”

“Thank you, Professor, but-” Rose hesitated, and Minerva waited, knowing she would continue when she was ready. “Can you tell my parents please? I don’t think I’m ready to try talking to them yet. And would it be possible for you to try and convince them to let Hugo come here for a day?” Rose looked at Minerva with hopeful eyes and she found she could do nothing but nod, despite it being against school protocol.

“Of course, Rose, I will try to convince them.”

“Thank you, thank you Professor!” Rose squealed and quickly ran around the desk to hug the Headmistress. Minerva appeared startled, but then reached out and hugged the girl in return.

“I told you Rose, anything you need, I will do my best to help you.” Rose beamed and nodded at Minerva. “Well if that’s all dear, I think you best be getting to bed, it’s getting late.” Rose quickly left the room, leaving Minerva to her thoughts.

“This has got to stop Albus” Minerva spoke to the portrait, turning to face it as she did so. “It’s gone too far, that poor girl feels she has no one to turn to, nowhere she can go. I expected so much more from them. I tried to remain neutral, I respect that it is their daughter, but enough is enough.” Albus looked at her over his half-moon spectacles, and despite being a painting it appeared as if the twinkle in his eyes had gone out.

“I agree Minerva, invite them all here, all the adults. Use my pensieve, show them your meetings with the girl, show them how the way they are treating her is tearing her apart. Bring her back her family. She deserves that at least.” Minerva nodded, and settled down in her chair to write letters arranging a meeting date with the adults of the Weasley family a week from now, so they had time to arrange any accommodations they may need. She also extended the invite to Teddy Lupin, and informed Professor Longbottom that he was expected to be there as well. Once the letters were sent, Minerva settled back in her chair and prayed that her plan would work, prayed that she wasn’t going to break Rose’s trust for nothing.


	7. Chapter 7

Once people began to appear in her office, Minerva informed each of them that she wouldn’t begin until everyone was here, she did not want to repeat herself she told them. When the last person, Charlie Weasley, stepped through her fireplace, she turned to face the assembled Weasley and Potter group.

“With all due respect Professor,” Charlie began, “I really don’t understand why I’m here.”

“I’ve gathered you all here to speak about Rose” The room fell silent; if a pin had dropped the sound would have reverberated through the room.

“Is she okay?” Hermione whispered, “Is my daughter okay?”

“Frankly, Mrs. Weasley, no, no she’s not. And all of you are to blame” Minerva said coolly, her eyes running over all of them, “well” she amended, “not all of you,” here her eyes lingered on Neville, Bill, and Teddy.

“What’ve I done?” George exclaimed, “I never insulted her house, I don’t care where she ends up. She’s still my niece.”

“Then maybe you should have told her that Mr. Weasley” Minerva looked at him, no sympathy to be found. “Now, if you would all be patient, I will explain it all to you. As you all now, your family began to ostracize poor Rose after she was sorted into Slytherin.”

“Bloody snake” Percy muttered under his breath. Minerva’s angry gaze found him, and he shrunk back in his seat.

“Mister Weasley you will reserve your comments until I have finished if you please.” Percy huffed, but did not comment further. Minerva directed all the members of the room towards the pensieve. Under her direction they all entered the pensieve. Minerva let them go by themselves and sat still, she did not go in knowing she was going to have enough of a headache after talking to them all afterwards and did not wish to sit through the memories again. The first one was of the night Ron and Hermione came to her office. The second was one Neville had requested be shown of that same night when she had run to his office. Neville had guessed what the meeting was for and insisted on sharing his memories as well. The next consisted of a few of their tea sessions where Rose had accidently let slip about some of the things she had heard her family and professors and other students say about her, sometimes when they think she isn’t listening and sometimes when they know she is. The memories also contained some of Neville’s memories when he had broken up the family when the older boys had begun to insult Rose. And finally, the last memory was Minerva’s last encounter with Rose. When the adults all exited the pensieve they seemed a lot more sombre.

“She zinks zat I don’t like ‘er?” asked a teary-eyed Fleur. “Of course I love her, she is my niece, perhaps I may have been upset about her friends, but I didn’t realize it was that bad. Vic never made it seem that bad in her letters.”

“Well, she wouldn’t, would she? She was one of the worst abusers of Rose,” Bill’s fury was obvious, “I think I need to speak with our daughter, I don’t want Rose to ever feel like she can’t come to our house,”

“If it’s any consolation Bill, all your letters and reassurances throughout the year is one of the things that kept her pounding away at her studies. She didn’t want to disappoint you. She told me that you believed in her, believed her to be kind, and told her she was brilliant in her own right. She had so many opportunities to lash out at those who bullied her, but she chose to believe what you said, that she was kind, and good, and she refused to do so.”

“I didn’t mean for her to overhear me saying that she was no fun, I didn’t really think that, if I remember correctly when I said that she had just shut down the boys game of quidditch because they weren’t wearing proper gear. I don’t really think that she’s a stick in the mud, she would always be welcome at my home.” Minerva nodded her acknowledgement at Charlie and turned her keen gaze to Percy, who appeared to be shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“What do you want me to say? Rose is right, I can’t stand anything that reminds me of death eaters and for me that includes Slytherin house.” Minerva raised her eyebrow and her lips became very thin. Percy wasn’t going to budge but then he looked over her shoulder and his eyes fell on Dumbledore’s portrait, Dumbledore who he had badmouthed and not trusted. Dumbledore who had accepted the apology he had given to his portrait after the battle with a twinkle in his eyes. Dumbledore who was now looking at him, with such disappointment, that it changed his stance. “But, I can try and get over my prejudice for Rose. She is still my niece and still family,” Percy turned his head down to the floor as he spoke but when he glanced back up, he noticed that Dumbledore was looking at him and a small smile was gracing his features.

“I don’t know what she’s talking about” Audrey rolled her eyes, “I don’t care about what house she is in. I don’t intentionally not talk to her I guess I was just trying to not interrupt the children’s time together. And I do _not_ still treat her like she’s five.” Audrey looked around the room and saw incredulous looks on everyone’s faces.

“You don’t treat her like she’s five? Rey, last Christmas you asked her if she needed help setting the table and hovered over her while she did it.” Charlie rolled his eyes laughing. Audrey turned bright red,

“Okay, well, I don’t mean to treat her like she’s five. I’ll try harder I suppose in the future.”

“Mister Weasley?” Minerva turned her gaze to George.

“What? Oh, come on, she can’t really think that can she? Obviously, I more than just tolerate her, I love the little minx. She’s inherited the best of all of us. Ginny’s feistiness, Hermione’s intelligence, Ron’s humour-” George paused and looked around the room conspirationaly, “shh don’t tell Ron I said he’s funny,” George threw a wink his brother’s direction, but Ron just looked at him stonily. “And she got Harry’s never-ending well of kindness, the tosser, obviously my pranking genes-”

“What? What pranking genes?” Angelina turned to face her husband, “Sweetheart, I’ve never known Rose to pull a prank.”

“Ah, you just haven’t been watching close enough, and she’s always managed to pass the blame onto Fred and James, because the family just assumes it couldn’t be her,” George grinned, “but more on that later. The point is I love my niece, and Fred and I had a few Slytherin friends in school, we weren’t as pigheaded as the rest of the school. We know, knew I guess” George’s eyes took on a wistful look as he continued, “that there is good and bad in every house.”

“You know,” Minerva looked at George gently, “what you’ve said is all very sweet. Part of the problem though is that Rose doesn’t want to be compared to her family. She knows how the wizarding world feels about her family, and she just wants to be seen as her own person. I understand you were saying it all as a compliment, but from Rose’s view who her parents are puts a great weight on her shoulders, and adds to everyone’s expectation about who _she_ should be.”

“Harry and I love Rosie, no matter what stupid comments he’s made. I think Rosie knows that too because her reason for not wanting to stay with us was our son, who I’d like to point out we will be having a firm talking to, and her parents.” Minerva nodded her assent at Ginny’s wise words, and instead turned her gaze to Neville.

“Neville, I invited you because I know you’ve been a beacon of support for Rose, and I felt you should know, because Merlin knows Rose will never tell you, that Alice has been part of the problem.” Minerva looked sadly at Neville, who she could tell was upset by the revelation.

“Trust me Minerva, I will talk to her, and she will be grounded until she apologizes, at the least. Maybe I’ll give her detention. We’ll see.” Minerva’s gaze moved around the room until it found Molly and Arthur. Molly’s gaze was set, but Arthur had unshed tears in his eyes.

“I had no idea Minerva, I swear. I told my granddaughter before she left for Hogwarts that I didn’t care which house she was in. Sure, I’m not overly enamoured of her hanging out with Lucius Malfoy’s grandchild, but I also know that Draco has strived to change. I’ve seen his influence in the Ministry, and his efforts to be different firsthand. If Scorpius is anything like his father, then he will be a good friend for her. I love my Posie, I had no idea Molly had been leaving her out,” Arthur’s accusatory gaze turned towards his wife.

“What do you want from me Arthur?” Molly’s anger was no longer contained, it seeped into her voice. “She is part of the devil’s house. She made friends with death eater’s spawn. Those people KILLED MY SON. Or did you forget about that Arthur? Fred was killed by those monsters, and now my granddaughter is hanging out with their spawn. What is to stop her from becoming just like them, and you want me to let her into my heart and my house? I don’t think so. From what that memory showed, she CHOSE to be in that house. She chose to become a snake, to become one of them. That is not the granddaughter I knew, the granddaughter I love would have chosen Gryffindor like her mother. Merlin, I know Harry almost ended up in Slytherin, but he chose the light, he chose goodness and bravery, the house of the lion. When Rose was given the choice, she chose wrong.” Molly stopped her tirade when she looked at Arthur’s face, there were storm clouds in his eyes. Arthur did not often get mad, but when he did, it was terrifying, and Molly began to shake slightly in her seat. Arthur had never been this angry, especially not at her.

“How dare you?” Arthur’s voice was calm, which made it so much worse. “How dare you insinuate that I could ever forget my son’s death. I know who killed him and it was not Rose, and it was not her friends. It wasn’t even their parents. Rockwood killed our son, and he is locked up behind bars. What stops her from becoming evil? Well I would imagine not being ousted from her family would be a start. That’s what set us apart from Voldemort, Molly. Love. Have you not heard Harry say over and over again that Voldemort’s greatest weakness was his inability to love? If you want Rose to become the person you fear she will, then keep doing what you’re doing. But even if you do, I don’t think she will become that person because that isn’t her. Rose is still the same granddaughter we know and love. If you can’t see that, then you are the one who has changed, not Rose.”

“Molly I chose Gryffindor because I had a bad experience with Draco prior to the sorting and I allowed it to prejudice me. If anyone would have reason to be upset with Rose because she chose Slytherin it would be me. Voldemort took everything from me, yet I accept Rose for who she is and her house because I understand that I was prejudiced as a child. I know now that it is more than just a house that makes a wizard or witch into who they are. I fought a war to end prejudice, we can’t allow the prejudice to just switch against the death eaters, or we might find ourselves in another one. Rose is part of the next generation, let them lead us into this new era, free of prejudice Mom.”

Molly looked between her husband and Harry and met both of their eyes. Arthur looked into her eyes and realized that Molly was just scared of losing another family member.

“Okay,” she said softly, her gaze not leaving Arthur’s, “you’ll be there to help me if I slip up and let old opinions cloud my judgement?” Arthur grasped his wife’s hands tightly in his.

“Always.”

“Harhar” Teddy mimed toasting a goblet, and the adults all began to laugh.

“What the bloody hell is wrong with all of you?” All eyes in the room turned to Ron Weasley who was bright red in the face. “My daughter is a bloody snake, following in Draco bloody Malfoy’s footsteps and you’re all just going to brush it off? She’s been corrupted and she doesn’t know how to listen apparently. I specifically told her to stay away from the bloody Malfoy git, and what does she do? She goes and becomes the little arse’s best friend. When she comes home for the summer you can be sure we’ll be having a talk about family loyalty and treacherous leeches.” 

“Ronald Weasley, you stop it right now. That is our daughter and we love her. You’re just scared that you’ve already lost her because you acted like a complete git. This needs to stop we need to go find our daughter and get her back. Ron, she doesn’t even want to come home, this has gone on long enough, please. Please, swallow your pride and apologize to Rose before we lose her for good.” Ron looked at Hermione’s tear-stained face and remorse flashed briefly across his face.

“She’s no daughter of mine,” Ron turned and walked to the fireplace disappearing in a swirl of green. Hermione collapsed in her chair, tears cascading down her face as she stared at the spot where her husband last stood.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“Mom” Rose’s voice echoed softly through the room, and the gathered Weasley’s looked up to see her sitting on the landing of the stairs that led to the headmaster’s suite. She slowly took a step down, seeming hesitant about rejoining her family. “What do you think?” she spoke softly refusing to look at anyone but Hermione, “I heard what everyone else thinks, what do you think?”

“Baby. Oh my baby girl, I never cared about where you were sorted, I told you that before you got on the train.”

“Then why did you react that way? Why did you hit me?” Tears fell down her face, but Rose made no move to wipe them away.

“I was worried about you, I know I didn’t express it well. I was worried that this would happen. I was worried about the prejudice you would face from the outside world. Then you started yelling at us, telling us off, and I just got angry, angry that you were right, and angry about the situation, and it all just built up, the anger and the fear and the worry, and before I could really think about it I had struck. I’m so sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean any of it, I’ve been trying to tell you that.”

“I- I could have-” Rose’s voice broke again, “I could’ve handled all of that. I could have handled the outside world and my old friends and even my cousins. I could have handled all that if I’d known that I had you. You and dad, and that you didn’t hate me, then I could’ve dealt with it all.” Rose’s keen blue eyes hadn’t moved from her mother’s face.

“I know. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, but I promise you from this moment forward you will always have me at your back forever and always.” Hermione opened her arms to her daughter, her own tears matching Rose’s. Rose hesitated, and for a moment Hermione thought that Rose wasn’t going to move, but suddenly Rose started to run down the stairs, and Hermione began to run to, meeting her halfway. Her daughter jumped into her arms and Rose buried her face in her mother’s neck, clinging to her like Hermione was water, and Rose had been stranded in the desert for a week.

“I missed you,” Rose whispered softly in her ear. Rose soon found herself being pressed in on from all sides, as the warmth of her family surrounded her, and for the first time in her life, Rose started to realize how truly blessed she was to have her family.

“Posie?” Rose disentangled herself from her mother’s embrace and turned to face her grandparents. “What do you say can you forgive your grandparents too?” Rose looked calculatingly at her grandparents.

“Of course I forgive you Gramps,” Rose turned her gaze to Molly alone, searching for something in her eyes. Rose saw love and remorse fighting for dominance in her Nan’s gaze, and before she could second guess herself she flew at Molly wrapping her arms tightly around her waist. “I love you nan” Molly looked at Arthur and her eyes filled with tears as she realized he was right. This was still the kind, sweet girl that she had seen grow up. Molly wrapped her arms tightly around her granddaughter, and kissed the top of her head.

“I love you too flower,” Rose turned and hugged her grandfather,

“Thank you for always believing in me” she whispered.

“Of course Posie”

Rose turned from her grandfather’s embrace her eyes searching for her Uncle Bill. When she spotted him she grinned, and ran across the room, jumping into his outstretched arms.

“Thank you for always believing in me, Uncle Bill. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You gave me no reason to doubt you Rosie, you will always have me at your back.”

Rose made her way around the room speaking to each of her uncles and aunts in turn. Percy looked uncomfortably at his shoes when she approached.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it. I know Uncle Percy” Percy’s startled gaze met hers, and not for the first time he realized how truly wise his niece was.

“But I should say it anyway. I’m sorry my prejudice bled through and resulted in me treating you poorly. I will talk to Molly, and make her see that you are still the remarkable young girl you were before the sorting.” Rose grinned and continued to make her way around the room. Eventually she had spoken to everyone except her Uncle George and Teddy. While she made her rounds, she heard Professor McGonagall telling Neville about how yes, she had planned on not having her here, but she felt guilty about betraying Rose’s trust in her, and informed her of the plan and invited her to listen in.

“Ro, I’m sorry I didn’t make it more obvious how absolutely exceptional I think you are. If I’m being honest I think you on your own could give the golden trio a run for their money” George winked at her and Rose giggled. “I’m sorry if I upset you by comparing you to your parents, it was truly meant as a compliment.”

“It’s okay Uncle George. I hate being compared to them because I hate feeling like I’m disappointing people when I’m not as smart as mum, or as athletic or funny as dad.” Rose admitted quietly, whispering so only her uncle could hear. Rose figured if anyone would understand it would be her uncle George, she knew as a twin, it would have been hard to have a separate persona, always being Fred and George, until they weren’t.

“Rose you are an amazing young woman, you will never be a disappointment to me, you hear? As long as you stay true to who you are you will accomplish great things, no matter who your parents are. You will make Rose Weasley a name people remember, and not because you are Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley’s child, but because you are Rose Weasley and you are magnificent.”

“You really think so?” Rose looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

“I know so.” Rose wrapped her arms around her uncle’s neck whispering thank you, before walking over to Teddy.

“I had no idea Vic was making life so hard for you Rose, I’m sorry”

“Not your fault Teddy,”

“You say the word and I’ll break up with her, and you can come stay with me. It’s not right the way she’s treating you, and you know my gran can relate to what you went through.” Rose shook her head,

“You breaking up with her would just make things worse, she would blame me, whether you told her that was the reason or not, and then it would make it harder to mend the rift between us. Besides, she makes you happy, and you make her happy. You both deserve that. I want you to be happy.” Teddy wrapped her up in a hug,

“How could you be a Slytherin Rose, you’re so selfless.” Rose stiffened in his arms, and Teddy seemed to realize what he said, “I didn’t mean it like that. I simply meant that the house qualities of Slytherin are self-preservation and cunning. It was not a shot at your house, promise.” Rose relaxed and hugged him back.

“I guess I can understand how you are a Hufflepuff then” Rose smiled kindly as she pulled away, “you were willing to give up your happiness for mine.”

“Always, you are mia Rosa. Anything for you.” Rose returned to her mother, feeling lighter than she had in ages. Hermione smiled at her daughter, pulling her in for a hug again. Just then an owl pounded on the window. Minerva opened it and it flew straight toward Hermione, extending its leg. Hermione released Rose and reached for the letter.

The room was silent, watching Hermione’s face pale as she read the letter. She reached out and collapsed back into a chair, shock and hurt fighting for the place of dominance on her face.

“Mom? What is it, what’s wrong?” Hermione’s eyes found Rose’s and she smiled sadly at her.

“It’s your father dear. He’s leaving me.”


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“What!” Harry looked outraged, and snatched the letter from Hermione.

“I’m so sorry Mum,” tears filled Rose’s eyes.

“Oh sweetheart, what are you sorry for?”

“Dad and you are fighting because of me and now-”

“Rose, listen to me, if anyone is to blame it’s your father, do you understand me? This is not your fault. Your father refuses to compromise and if he truly cannot accept you then he is not the man I fell in love with, he is not the man I married. I promise you this is not your fault,”

“But-but. I chose Slytherin, if I hadn’t done that-”

“Then you wouldn’t be my Rose. We should have seen it coming. We really should have. You were always so ambitious, and you always wanted to prove that you could do anything. I think you made the right choice for you Rose, for once you made a decision about what you want, not what you thought would make us happy. Don’t apologize for that, this one is on your father, okay?” Rose looked at her mother and slowly nodded her head.

“Alright well it’s late love, why don’t you head up to bed, I’ll see you in a week for Christmas,”

“Actually,” Rose scuffed her shoe on the ground and wouldn’t look at her mother, “I might have already told my friends that I was staying behind and they might have decided to sign up to stay so that I wouldn’t be here by myself.” Hermione laughed,

“I’m glad that they love you enough to stay behind at Christmas, I’m happy for you Rosie. I will see you at Easter then okay love?” Rose nodded and hugged her mother tightly around the middle, before leaving the headmistress’ office and returning to the Slytherin common room.

“Well? How’d it go?” Rose jumped and turned to see Scorpius sitting in an armchair by the fire. She saw Theresa and Jacob also sitting there too, however, they were fast asleep. Her friends had obviously tried to wait up and see how her meeting with her family went. Her heart warmed with affection for them.

“Really well, except for, well except for my dad. The rest of my family were either okay with it after seeing the memories, or said they would learn to be okay with it.” Rose wanted to be happy, but a part of her couldn’t help but be sad, remembering her dad leaving.

“Well that’s good isn’t it?” Rose looked up and met his gaze.

“It is, of course, I just wish my dad felt the same way.” Rose felt tears prickle at her ears remembering Ron’s parting words. “The last thing he said was ‘she’s no daughter of mine’” Rose whispered, looking to Scorpius for some kind of comfort, which he quickly provided. Scorpius pulled Rose into his arms and let her cry. He had promised to wake the others when Rose got back, but when she had walked in, he knew she wouldn’t be ready to face them all yet. Scorpius could read Rose like a book, as he knew she could with him. The two eleven-year-olds soon drifted off to sleep together on the couch, comforted by the other’s presence.

When Rose woke the next morning she found that her back was very warm, while her front was cold. It didn’t take her long to realise that the warmth she was feeling was another human body, and the events of last night returned to her. Rose stood and made her way to her dormitory, changing into fresh clothes. She returned downstairs and woke the rest of her friends. As soon as they woke Theresa and Jacob both began bombarding her with questions about the night before. Rose sighed and sat beside Scorp, who rested his arm around her shoulders, a silent sign of support, as Rose told her tale for the second time.

“Well who needs parents when you have a family in us?” Theresa smirked, “If you want a dad that bad, you can share mine. I’ve told my parents why I wasn’t coming home for Christmas and they said to tell you that you are always welcome at our home, mind you you’d have to tolerate-” Theresa paused to fake a shiver of distaste, “Alex, and my little sister Cassandra, but I’m sure you could handle it.” Rose laughed,

“Of course I could handle it, I mean Alex,” Rose feigned batting in her eyes, “so dreamy that one. I think I could deal with being around him.” Theresa looked mortified. Jacob started to laugh riotously, and when she turned to look at Scorp he appeared to be analyzing her. He seemed to realize she was joking and joined in with Jacob’s laughter.

“That isn’t funny. Alex’s ego is almost as big as Scorp’s I don’t need it getting bigger, thank you very much.” Theresa huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, causing Rose to laugh with her other friends.

“I don’t have a big ego thank you very much,” Scorpius pouted once the group had settled down. The other three looked at him, looked at each other, and then started laughing again. Scorpius glared at them all before standing and making his way out of the room.

“Come on, let’s go with him,” Rose tried to contain her laughter, “I’m hungry anyways.”

The rest of the week seemed to drag, as things usually do when you are excited for something. Rose woke on the first morning of break to an empty dormitory, and assumed Theresa had already gone downstairs. Rose got dressed and made her way down to the common room where she encountered Theresa, Jacob and Scorpius who had opted to stay at Hogwarts with her for the break.

“Morning,” Rose spoke through a yawn.

“Morning sunshine,” Scorpius smirked, “Glad to see you’ve joined the land of the living.”

“Har-har, come on I’m hungry,” Rose stood, dragging Jacob and Scorp up by their arms as well. Theresa followed suit and the quartet made their way to the Great Hall.

“Woah,” Jacob looked around the redecorated great hall in awe. Usually there were five tables contained within the hall, one for each house and a staff table. This morning, they instead found one table containing 12 chairs.

“Morning Alex!” Theresa called out to her brother. Alex and Albus had both decided to stay behind as well. Albus stayed because he had wanted Rose to have family with her at Christmas, while Alex stayed because he did not wish to be separated from his sister.

“Morning Rea!” As they all took their seats, Rose took note of who else was at the table with them. It appeared there was a lone 4th year Ravenclaw, a 3rd year hufflepuff, and a 6th year Gryffindor. The remaining three seats were filled by Professor McGonagall, Professor Zabini and her husband, who had been allowed to enter Hogwarts for the holidays as the rest of his family was here.

“Good morning all,” Minerva smiled looking at all of her students.

“Good morning Professor,” was echoed around the table, and the assembled group began to eat their breakfast. The six first years spent their whole break together, having snowball fights, building snow forts, playing exploding snap in the Slytherin common room and overall revelling in each other’s company. Rose woke Christmas morning to a pile of presents at the foot of her bed. As they had all previously agreed, Rose levitated her presents down to the common room so they could all open their presents together. When she arrived she noticed that the only other person who was awake was Scorpius.

“Morning Scorp,” Rose smiled fondly at the blonde haired boy who had become her best friend.

“Morning Ro,” Scorpius patted the seat beside him which Rose gladly took. Rose folded her legs up underneath her and rested her head on his shoulder.

“It’s different, isn’t it? Being away from home for the holidays? I haven’t ever had a Christmas as quiet as this one.”

“Good different or bad different?”

“I don’t know... just different,” Rose tilted her face towards Scorpius’ face as she answered. “Normally, my whole family gathers at the burrow and there’s so many of us kids now that we usually sit at a separate table, and we tell jokes while James and Fred pull off some kind of trick, usually whatever they can think of that makes the most noise. And at the end of the night we would all curl up in front of the fireplace and drink my Gran’s hot chocolate. But here, here I get to be with all of you and I think that’s pretty wonderful too. It’s different, it’s so peaceful here.” Rose sighed, relaxing into the couch. “What is Christmas like for you?”

“Nowhere near as exciting from the sounds of it,” Scorp seemed to be attempting to laugh off the question. Rose looked at him expectantly, and Scorpius found himself elaborating, “It’s usually pretty quiet. It’s just mum, dad, my gran, and me. Uncle Blaise and Aunt Daphne usually spend the day with Blaise’s mum, we do Christmas with them on Boxing Day usually, mom and Aunt Daphne’s dad is there too. But my family is different than yours Rose, it’s not all fun and laughter. There’s expectation about how we should act, how we should behave. Christmas dinner is eaten in the formal dining room where they talk about politics and fashion. I don’t know, I usually just sit and eat while they talk about who they think should be the next minister for magic, or the next charity ball that mum is planning. I mean, don’t get me wrong I love my family, and I know they love me, but Christmas is usually a more subdued event. This year, with all of my friends? It’s the best Christmas I’ve ever had. It’s a good different.” Before Rose could respond they heard someone bang into a wall and turned to see Jacob stumbling down the stairs.

“Blimey, you two are up already? It’s not even 8 in the morning.”

“It’s Christmas!” Rose looked appalled at Jacob’s apparent distaste for mornings given the occasion.

“Yeah and I was hoping to enjoy the lie-in seeing as I’m not home this year. If I was I’d have already been up for three hours by now. My brother, Kyan, would’ve gotten me and my sister up by now. Jumping on beds and yelling until we finally got up.” Jacob rolled his eyes, “he’s seven, every holiday is exciting still.”

“It’s Christmas, of course it’s exciting.” Rose glared at Jacob, as if she took it as a personal offense that he was not excited enough.

“Jeez are you sure you’re not a lion? Calm down, I never said I hated it, just that it could be celebrated just as well at a sane person’s waking time.” Rose rolled her eyes and chucked one of the pillows from the couch at him. Jacob swerved to the side, but the pillow continued on its trajectory and instead hit Theresa who had just stepped off of the girl’s staircase.

“Oi! What was that for?”

“Sorry Rea, it was supposed to hit Jacob!” Theresa raised an eyebrow at Rose, grabbed the pillow from where it had fallen and walked up to Jacob, whacking him upside the head with it.

“There, can we stop throwing pillows now?” Rose and Theresa looked at each other and burst into giggles at the undignified look on Jacob’s face, Scorpius soon joining in.

“Fine, that’s enough then. Let’s just get to presents shall we?” The three friends quickly settled down at the mention of presents and quickly began to open them. Passing thank yous around as they opened presents that were from one of the other members in the room. Rose had received the traditional Weasley jumper and fudge from her grandparents, an assortment of prank items from Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, a collection of sweets from her Uncle Charlie, a hand-knit scarf and mitten set from Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, a new set of chaser gloves and a broom polish kit from Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, a book on elemental magic from Theresa and Alex, and a set of bird-feather quills from Jacob including peacock, phoenix, and hippogriff feathers. Two presents stood out in Rose’s mind though. One stood out because of who it came from. The address clearly stated To Rose Love mum and Hugo, and her heart broke a little realising her father had still not forgiven her. The present itself was lovely, it was a charm bracelet with multiple charms; a broom, a stack of books, a piano, and a phoenix. All of Rose’s favourite things, but her favourite charm was the one of the snake and the lion mingling. On the back, Hermione had engraved: _Always together, no matter what._ The other present that Rose had noticed the most came from Scorpius, it was a music box, that played her favourite piano song, River Flow in You. It was a beautifully handcrafted, oak box, shaped like the Hogwarts castle. When Rose lifted the lid, the inside was a likenesses of her and Scorpius, sitting on the couch, as her song played.

“You remembered,” she whispered softly, looking up at him. Scorpius shifted uncomfortably in his seat,

“You like it then?” Rose looked at him incredulously before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

“I love it.” Scorpius grinned as she pulled back, and then continued to open his presents. Theresa had finished already as well, as her parents were waiting until they met up later to exchange gifts. Jacob opened his last present and sent a quiet thank you towards Theresa, who merely smiled in response. Scorpius reached for his last present, and looked at Rose.

“Hmm, this one’s from Rosie, what do you guys bet, an exam study guide?” Rose stuck her tongue out at Scorpius,

“Just open it you git,” Scorp smirked at her but tore off the wrapping staring at it in awe.

“How’d you get it?”

“My aunt played for the Holyhead Harpies, she knows lots of professional quidditch players, not to mention Wood was half of my family’s quidditch captain.” Rose had gotten Scorpius a signed Falmouth Falcons Oliver Wood Jersey. Scorpius had mentioned to Rose that Oliver was his favourite player during one of their many fireside conversations.

“Thanks Rosie”

“Alright, come on you lot, let’s go get breakfast before Malfoy starts drooling over his new jersey,” Scorpius stuck his tongue at Theresa petulantly but reluctantly put the jersey back in its box before standing. He offered a hand to Rose to help her up and the four friends headed to the Great Hall.

After breakfast Theresa left to spend the day with her parents, and Albus joined the remaining three Slytherins in their common room. They passed the day through wizard chess competitions using the new sets Scorp and Al had gotten for Christmas.

At the feast that evening they found that there were crackers, and Rose opened the first one with Lucia Carron, the 4th year Ravenclaw who had stayed behind, while Albus opened his with Lucia’s brother Nicholas, the 6th year Gryffindor. Jacob and Theresa opened their’s together, and Alex opened the cracker with Brianna Applebee, the 3rd year Hufflepuff. Scorpius opened his with his Uncle Blaise, while Daphne and Minerva opened theirs together. The partners then grabbed another cracker so they each received a gift. Collectively, the group put on the paper crowns and then examined their prizes. Rose found herself with a pack of Drooble’s Best Blowing gum. The group spent the rest of the evening singing carols, and telling jokes. Looking back on it, Rose had to agree with Scorpius, it was one of the best Christmases ever.


End file.
